Getting no satisfaction from their provincial representative, the B.C. Land Owners Rights Group (BCLOR) has found an ally in MP Colin Mayes in their quest to protect what they call Canadians‘ right to own property. Kurt Yakelashek, one of the founders of the BCLOR, said the group came 
to Mayes to ask a question they feel demands an immediate response. “We want to know, how can you have one entity legalize the theft of property from another group?” said Yakelashek. Okanagan – Shuswap MP Colin Mayes agrees that this issue needs to be addressed. “This falls under provincial jurisdiction but I also know that part of the Conservative party platform is to protect individual property rights,” said Mayes. In a letter to the Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson, Mayes said “The right to own free and simple title to property and exercise that right . . . is a fundamental principle of our Canadian democracy.” Mayes has called for Nicholson to examine how the Charter of Rights and Freedoms may be adapted to give property owners more power in refusing to allow exploration on their land. The BCLOR opposes the rights given to “free miners” by the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act, which allows the holder of subsurface rights of a property to conduct exploratory drilling without the permission of the surface rights owner, Yakelashek said. Section 14 of the act gives miners the right to enter private property to mine if the miner has the proper permits.
to Mayes to ask a question they feel demands an immediate response. “We want to know, how can you have one entity legalize the theft of property from another group?” said Yakelashek. Okanagan – Shuswap MP Colin Mayes agrees that this issue needs to be addressed. “This falls under provincial jurisdiction but I also know that part of the Conservative party platform is to protect individual property rights,” said Mayes. In a letter to the Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson, Mayes said “The right to own free and simple title to property and exercise that right . . . is a fundamental principle of our Canadian democracy.” Mayes has called for Nicholson to examine how the Charter of Rights and Freedoms may be adapted to give property owners more power in refusing to allow exploration on their land. The BCLOR opposes the rights given to “free miners” by the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act, which allows the holder of subsurface rights of a property to conduct exploratory drilling without the permission of the surface rights owner, Yakelashek said. Section 14 of the act gives miners the right to enter private property to mine if the miner has the proper permits. 
Essentially, the act says that someone who owns land is powerless to stop the exploration for minerals by a person who owns the rights to what is below ground. “Basically, Canadians don‘t have the rights to own private property. China legislated that right a couple of months ago; Russia has had it for years,” said Yakelashek. MLA Tom Christensen said that regardless of popular sentiment, B.C. law has always held surface and sub-surface land title to be completely separate. “People must recognize that property rights aren‘t absolute,” said Christensen, “to change (the law) in the way people are suggesting would change the entire legal structure that this province is based on.” According to chief gold commissioner Pat O‘Rourke, the separation of ownership rights is as old as the province itself. “(The Mineral Tenure Act) is an offspring of the way our province began in the 1850‘s,” said O‘Rourke, “People are surprised to hear how the law works.” 
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